Growing Wildflowers | WLW

Gardenia

I glance at Sophie to see if she makes the connection, if she knows that the Vanderbilt girl Leroy is referring to is Jamie, but her expression doesn't change.

"I want you to come back so we can chat in person," Leroy repeats matter-of-factly.

Sophie's sitting on the edge of her desk. Her arms are crossed over her chest, her eyes focused on the floor as she listens in on our conversation. "Absolutely not." She shakes her head.

I clear my throat, trying to muster up as much confidence as Sophie. "Uh, I can't do that." Oof. I sound like a child whose mother said no to them going to their friend's sleepover, not the confident vampire I'm trying to be.

Leroy clicks his tongue. "Gwendolyn." He lets out a long sigh. "Would you be a dear and go somewhere private?"

I don't answer right away. Sophie and John wait for the obvious answer.

"Okay." It shocks me as much as it shocks them.

John and Sophie shoot to their feet at the same time, watching me with wide eyes as I duck out of the room. I continue walking until I'm in the parking lot, leaning against John's truck. I'm not sure I'm far enough from John and Sophie for the conversation to be completely private but I'm too scared to venture outside of the gate. "Go ahead," I say, my tone still holding a hint of resentment.

"You nearly killed one of our own tonight," he states. "To be completely transparent, if Leah hadn't pulled your mask off, I wouldn't have believed it was you. You know... With your empathetic nature and all."

Hot rage boils inside my chest. He doesn't know me. How dare he act like it. "What do you want?"

He sighs again and it makes him sound old. "I'm afraid that..." He clears his throat. "I'm worried that we are the ones at fault for the sudden change in your behavior."

I scoff. "Isn't this what you wanted?" I'm picking at the peeling paint on John's truck. "A killing machine?"

"No." I can picture him shaking his head. "No, that's not what we wanted at all. That's what Sophie is. I'm assuming she's the one with you? She's the one who's put you up to this?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He laughs gently. "Gwendolyn, the reason—"

"Stop calling me that," I order.

"My apologies." He sounds genuine, and I hate him for it. Hate him for making me feel bad after what he did to me. "Gwen," he corrects. "We would be willing to let bygones be bygones if you would like to join us over here at the vampire council as a guard. You have immense potential and... I'm afraid we need someone like you to help us put an end to all this senseless killing." When I don't respond he continues. "I know you're not like the rest of them. You know what they did to those kids on the beach was wrong."

He's trying to pit me against Sophie and the others. He's trying to make it seem like he's on my side but he's wrong. I'm not on Sophie's side. I'm not on his, and as much as it hurts to admit, I'm not on John's either. I'm here to keep Jamie safe. I've known that since the beginning, whether I refused to admit it or not.

"You don't care about human life," I say. "Why would you care about 'putting an end to senseless killing' if you don't care about humans?"

"That's not entirely accurate. We couldn't exist without them. I'm sure you're aware of that though."

"You're insane if you think I'm going to enlist in your little army."

"Now, Gwen—"

"You tortured me for weeks." My voice shakes as a single hot tear manages to stream down my cheeks before I can wipe it away.